Continual learning is the minimum requirement of success in any field, says Kirubakaran K K

I completed BTech in 2015 and started working as a Product Engineer in the medical devices domain at a multinational company. Two years of my work in a regulatory environment and product development, kindled me to pursue a Master’s degree to get expertise in this niche area. I didn’t have much confusion about what to study, rather I had to decide where to study. My application was accepted in some of the Canadian universities but could not pursue because of personal reasons. However, my desire to do a Masters made me search for institutions within India, offering courses related to clinical trials or applied statistics. To my surprise, many colleges popped up in a quick google search. So, I meticulously compared the course contents that were tailor-made for pharma industries and I found the Clinical Research program offered at PHFI Delhi - Indian Institute of Public Health.

I did extensive background research about the programme and the institute in terms of pedagogy, faculties, and course content. You won’t believe me that IIPH Delhi’s Clinical Research curriculum was similar to Stanford’s clinical research programme. Further, faculties here at the institute have vast practical experience, international exposure, and their research work are well appreciated by the scientific community. Faculties at IIPH-D taught with passion, rather than trying to wrap up the syllabus, they ensured students understood the concepts and its applicability in the research setting. The curriculum gave me copious opportunities to attend several training programmes to hone the skills that are demanded by the pharma industries. I strongly believe in the phrase ‘Future is Data’ and started focusing on research and clinical data management. IIPH Delhi gave me exposure in setting up a new clinical data management system which I never thought would help in reaching heights in my career. My thesis mentor was supportive and ensured I got my research work published. Alongside my project, I also got opportunities to learn from two ongoing clinical trials that gave me a practical understanding and confidence in the domain. I must admit the course demands hours of dedicated time. However, it also kindled my curiosity to explore more.

After my graduation, I resumed my career at the MNC in the Clinical Data Management domain. I am leading a workstream in the development of a novel integrated clinical data analytics platform that is aimed to ensure the rapid study set-up and execution, automatise the data management processes, and dynamic site monitoring. I can say with confidence, that I am able to correlate my learnings from the past two years with my current work and this gives me an edge over others in my team. It is always satisfying to implement what we learn and see the results. ‘Continual learning is the minimum requirement of success in any field’ and I can strongly say my Master's degree has been instrumental in achieving my career goals.

About the author

Kirubakaran K K is an MSc graduate from the IIPH Delhi in the Clinical Research domain.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha